Veronika Ottová-Jordan1, Otto R F Smith2, Inese Gobina3, Joanna Mazur4, Lilly Augustine5, Franco Cavallo6, Raili Välimaa7, Irene Moor8, Torbjørn Torsheim9, Zuzana Katreniakova10, Wilma Vollebergh11, Ulrike Ravens-Sieberer12. 1. 1 Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany v.ottova-jordan@uke.de. 2. 2 Department of Health Promotion and Development, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway 3 Division of Mental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway. 3. 4 Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, Riga Stradins University, Riga, Latvia. 4. 5 Department of Child and Adolescent Health, Institute of Mother and Child, Warsaw, Poland. 5. 6 Public Health Agency of Sweden, Solna, Sweden 7 Department of Human Sciences, Kristianstads University, Kristianstad, Sweden. 6. 8 Department of Public Health and Pediatrics, University of Turin, Turin, Italy. 7. 9 Department of Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland. 8. 10 Institute of Medical Sociology, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany. 9. 2 Department of Health Promotion and Development, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway. 10. 11 Institute of Public Health, Department of Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Safarik University, Kosice, Slovak Republic. 11. 12 Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Department of Interdisciplinary Social Science, University of Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands. 12. 1 Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Health complaints are a good indicator of an individual's psychosocial health and well-being. Studies have shown that children and adolescents report health complaints which can cause significant individual burden. METHODS: Using data from the international Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study, this article describes trends in multiple recurrent health complaints (MHC) in 35 countries among N = 237 136 fifteen-year-olds from 1994 to 2010. MHC was defined as the presence of two or more health complaints at least once a week. Logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate trends across the five survey cycles for each country. RESULTS: Lowest prevalence throughout the period 1994-2010 was 16.9% in 1998 in Austria and highest in 2006 in Israel (54.7%). Overall, six different trend patterns could be identified: No linear or quadratic trend (9 countries), linear decrease (7 countries), linear increase (5 countries), U-shape (4 countries), inverted U-shape (6 countries) and unstable (4 countries). CONCLUSION: Trend analyses are valuable in providing hints about developments in populations as well as for benchmarking and evaluation purposes. The high variation in health complaints between the countries requires further investigation, but may also reflect the subjective nature of health complaints.
BACKGROUND: Health complaints are a good indicator of an individual's psychosocial health and well-being. Studies have shown that children and adolescents report health complaints which can cause significant individual burden. METHODS: Using data from the international Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study, this article describes trends in multiple recurrent health complaints (MHC) in 35 countries among N = 237 136 fifteen-year-olds from 1994 to 2010. MHC was defined as the presence of two or more health complaints at least once a week. Logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate trends across the five survey cycles for each country. RESULTS: Lowest prevalence throughout the period 1994-2010 was 16.9% in 1998 in Austria and highest in 2006 in Israel (54.7%). Overall, six different trend patterns could be identified: No linear or quadratic trend (9 countries), linear decrease (7 countries), linear increase (5 countries), U-shape (4 countries), inverted U-shape (6 countries) and unstable (4 countries). CONCLUSION: Trend analyses are valuable in providing hints about developments in populations as well as for benchmarking and evaluation purposes. The high variation in health complaints between the countries requires further investigation, but may also reflect the subjective nature of health complaints.
Authors: Alina Cosma; Jelisaveta Belić; Ondřej Blecha; Friederike Fenski; Man Y Lo; Filip Murár; Darija Petrovic; Maria T Stella Journal: Front Psychol Date: 2017-05-18
Authors: Adilson Marques; Yolanda Demetriou; Riki Tesler; Élvio R Gouveia; Miguel Peralta; Margarida Gaspar de Matos Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2019-09-07 Impact factor: 3.390